Apparatus for feeding reclaimed plastic to injection molding machine

Abstract

An apparatus for feeding reclaimed plastic to an injection molding machine is disclosed. The apparatus for feeding reclaimed plastic to an injection molding machine, comprising a heating unit having both a plastic intake port to supply plastic articles to be reclaimed to the heating unit, and a melting furnace to heat and melt the plastic articles at a predetermined temperature to prepare soft reclaimed plastic, further comprising; a first feeding unit receiving the soft reclaimed plastic fed from the melting furnace of the heating unit; and a second feeding unit temporarily storing therein the soft reclaimed plastic fed from the first feeding unit, and controllably feeding the soft reclaimed plastic to the injection molding machine in accordance with a predetermined quantity of soft reclaimed plastic required by said molding machine.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An apparatus for feeding reclaimed plastic to an injection molding machine, comprising a heating unit having both a plastic intake port to supply plastic articles to be reclaimed to the heating unit, and a melting furnace to heat and melt the plastic articles at a predetermined temperature to prepare soft reclaimed plastic, further comprising; 
 a first feeding unit receiving the soft reclaimed plastic fed from the melting furnace of the heating unit; and    a second feeding unit temporarily storing therein the soft reclaimed plastic fed from the first feeding unit, and controllably feeding the soft reclaimed plastic to the injection molding machine in accordance with a predetermined quantity of soft reclaimed plastic required by said molding machine.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said first feeding unit comprises: 
 a hopper having a funnel-shaped chamber, with a top of said hopper being opened to receive the soft reclaimed plastic into the hopper and a plastic feeding passage being formed at a bottom of said hopper;    first and second cylinders mounted along both sides of said hopper to form a Y-shaped profile;    first and second pistons installed in said first and second cylinders to discharge the soft reclaimed plastic; and    first and second hydraulic cylinder actuators connected to the first and second pistons.    
     
     
         3 . The apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein a plastic inlet passage is formed on said first and second cylinders to communicate with said plastic feeding passage of the hopper, and a flange is formed at an end of said second cylinder.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein a heater is mounted to an external surface of either of said first and second cylinders, and a water jacket is formed on an internal surface of said hopper.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein said first and second pistons are hollow pistons, with a water inlet hole and a water outlet hole being provided on each of said first and second pistons to circulate cooling water through each of said first and second pistons.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said second feeding unit comprises: 
 a storage chamber part having a longitudinal cylindrical shape and provided with an inlet port to receive the soft reclaimed plastic discharged from the first feeding unit, and an outlet port formed at an end of said storage chamber part;    a feed screw installed in said storage chamber part to be rotated and reciprocated along the storage chamber part;    a hydraulic drive unit connected to an end of said feed screw to rotate the feed screw;    a platform to guide a horizontal movement of both the hydraulic drive unit and the feed screw; and    a hydraulic cylinder actuator connected to the hydraulic drive unit to horizontally move said hydraulic drive unit in opposite directions, thus advancing and retracting the hydraulic drive unit.    
     
     
         7 . The apparatus according to  claim 6 , wherein said platform comprises a plurality of guides to guide the horizontal movement of said hydraulic drive unit, with a limit switch being installed on said platform to sense a retracted position of said hydraulic drive unit.